Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions to explain more about the Otaku World
Subscription Process and why we are doing this.
How are subscriptions paid for?
We use
PayPal
to handle credit cards and to pay directly from a PayPal account.
Additional payment methods will be added in the near future.
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Do you accept money orders or other payments sent to you directly?
We are working to add additional payment methods that include accepting
money orders or cashiers' checks and we hope to complete this in the near future.
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How much will the subscription cost?
Through PayPal, these are the payment plans (all currency in U.S.A. dollars):
- at $5.10 per month buy 6 months for $30.60
- at $5.95 per month buy 3 months for $17.85
- at $7.95 per month buy 1 month at a time
The Cost of a Subscription is non-refundable! The only exception is
if Otaku World is shut down permanently, in which case refunds will be issued
for the amounts remaining on each subscription.
One month subscriptions are never refundable.
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How does the subscription process work?
You reserve a user name using the subscription process. Along with the
user name, you also supply a valid e-mail address. You then select a payment
method. Once payment has been made, sit
back and relax until your password is sent to you at the e-mail address you supplied
(which is why it is important to give us a valid e-mail address).
Confirmation of payment should happen almost immediately and you should receive
an e-mail notification within minutes.
If you haven't received your password yet and you believe it is taking longer than
it should, drop the
Web Master
(e-mail address owmaster@otakuworld.com)
a note asking what's up.
Once you receive your password, you can download files from Otaku World. When
you click on the file you want, you may be asked for a user name and password. Enter
the information and click OK to start the download. Usually you will only need to do this
once after you start your browser. When you exit your browser and then come back to
Otaku World for another download, you will have to re-enter the user name and password.
Some browsers will allow you to remember this information to save you from having to
type it in each time.
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What about my privacy? Can I expect a lot of spam once I give you my e-mail?
We will use your e-mail only to maintain your Otaku World subscription.
For example, if you forget your password, we can e-mail it
to you at the address you supplied. When it comes time to resubscribe,
we will send you a single notice to remind you to renew your subscription the day
before your subscription expires. If you choose to ignore the message then your account
will be automatically cancelled.
The only thing associated with your e-mail address is the user name you supply
when you first sign up for Otaku World which is about as private as you can get.
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What do I get for my subscription?
You get access to everything currently on Otaku World, without exception.
More importantly, you help maintain the largest archive of anime and manga-related
software on the Web.
It is important to understand that subscription money pays only
for access to, and the continued existence of, the archival web site known as
Otakuworld.com. Subscription money does not pay for the contents that
Otaku World archives, including, but not limited to, Kisekae dolls,
Kamishibai stories, Otaku Mascots, Game demos, Rare promotional demos, and
informational articles. Otakuworld.com is a repository, a museum, of
rare anime- and manga-related materials, and subscription fees serve
only to permit the continued existence of, and access to, the
Otaku World repository.
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Why can't you use one of those free services to host Otaku World?
There are several reasons why we don't use a free service. First and foremost, no
free service can support a site as big as Otaku World. Those "free" services use
advertising to keep going. Otaku World is failing because there is not enough
advertising dollars available to keep it running. So how can a free site supported
by advertising support Otaku World which can't support itself with advertising?!
Second, Otaku World has already shown the there is not enough money simply running
banner ads so how can we pay ourselves to maintain Otaku World from what pittance a
free service would send our way?
Those "free" and low-cost services are already getting hit hard by
the lack of advertising dollars. Most will probably be gone by the
end of the year and the rest will have to do something else to bring
money in. Subscriptions, perhaps? It wouldn't do Otaku World any
good to go with a service that won't be there in a year.
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Just how big is Otaku World anyway?
Otaku World occupies about 3 gigabytes of hard drive space with
over 6200 pages, 8000+ images, and 5700 download files. That doesn't include the
hundreds of graphics used throughout the site. Otaku World uses a bit
over 350 gigabytes of total bandwidth each month.
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What about accepting donations?
Otaku World's expenses are constant every month. Donations are
made whenever anyone feels like it. To keep Otaku World on-line, we
need something more predictable than donations. That is why we chose
subscriptions instead of simple donations.
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I thought Kiss dolls and Kamishibai stories were supposed to always be free?
Nothing on the Web is really "free". You may not pay for downloading that
Kisekae doll but someone has to. We pay for the bandwidth and the server which
exists to allow you to download that doll. Advertising has, in the past, paid us
to host their ads on Otaku World. In return, some of you buy the goods or services
being advertised. That pays the companies for those goods and services which allows
them to advertise which tells you what you can buy, and round and round. That is called
an economic cycle.
Also, if you are lucky, your parents or your school or workplace is probably paying
for the connection you use to download that Kisekae doll. You may think that doll is
free but it isn't.
The only way Otaku World can stay on-line is to charge for access; we are simply
short-circuiting the economic cycle. Our only other solution is to shut down Otaku
World and then there would be no place for all those Kisekae dolls.
In the first three months of 2001, we paid for Otaku World's existence
out of our savings. Which means we ourselves paid for all those
downloads you got "for free". This couldn't continue hence the
subscriptions.
The viewers and construction kits for Kisekae, Kamishibai, and Otaku Mascot
will always be free. Only the Kisekae dolls, Kamishibai stories, and Otaku Mascots
will be covered under the subscription.
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If you are charging to access Kisekae dolls, don't the artists get a cut?
The amount of money we expect to get from subscriptions cover the cost of the
server and bandwidth and some portion of our salaries to maintain Otaku World.
We will give free subscription time to artists who have their works posted on Otaku
World but, at the moment, that is the best we can do. We are not doing this to get rich,
we are doing this to keep Otaku World on-line in the only way we have available to us.
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What about my copyrights in the works I do have posted on Otaku World?
You retain all copyrights to your works. We are simply distributing your works.
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I believe my work should always be free. Can I have my art removed from Otaku World?
Yes. Supply us with the name of the work and we will remove it.
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Do you ever plan to revert to free access for Otaku World?
Again, nothing on the Web is truly free. However, if there is some way for Otaku World
to pay for itself and its maintenance that doesn't require some form of subscription then
we are all for it. It will have to make economic sense for both us and you but we will
keep an open mind about any option that arises.
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I have lost my password. How can I get it back?
Go to
http://otakuworld.com/amember/member.php
(this link is available from the top of the front page of Otaku World under the link
Lost Passwords and from the top right of the
Subscriptions page under the link
Lost Password?)
then enter your user name and click the button. Your password will be sent to the
e-mail address associated with the account. Please! please, do this only if you
have actually received a password from Otaku World already and you have lost it. You
can't get the password from an account that is not yet activated or doesn't exist.
Oh and don't bother asking Stephen, Dov, or Jennifer for your password. We will never
send you a password. Nor will we ever, ever ask you for your password. Never, ever.
If someone asks you for your password, tell 'em to go piss up a rope.
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